The Deconstructed Horoscope

    by Jeff Jawer

Astrology is an incredible tool for self-understanding, but like all tools, it can be abused. One of the most common ways of abusing ourselves with astrology is to imagine that the natal chart describes all the possible expressions of ourselves. So, if you're a Capricorn with no planets in Aquarius, don't expect to have the freedom and inventiveness of Aquarius available to you this lifetime.  This identification with the birth chart, to the exclusion of the rest of the Zodiac, is an unfortunate side effect of natal Astrology.

The natal chart is focussed on the individual.  It works in an exclusionary way.  That is, when I say that I'm a Taurus, it's inferred that I'm not an Aries, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scopio, etc.  The birth chart describes my differences, not our similarities. It is as incomplete as we are, a point in time and space, not the circle in which it is contained. 

No matter how accurately your natal chart describes your personality and forms the cycles of your life, it is far from the whole story of what Astrology has to offer. Astrology offers a key to a secret language, a code to the universe, if you like. It shows us elements and modes, constructing a 12 phase zodiac. It gives us the Sun, Moon and planets to use in our lives. But too often, the natal chart gets in the way. I would like to recommend two different exercises to overcome this limitation.

The first is to ditch your natal chart. That's right, just get rid of it, imagine that it doesn't exist. Aries are free to negotiate, Librans to fight, Cancers to not care and Capricorns to feel deeply. In place of your own chart you can follow the transits of the day. When the Moon's in Gemini you have the Moon in Gemini, when it changes to Cancer you change yours to Cancer. In this way you are free to explore Astrology, to explore your universe without restriction of natally imposed limitations. 

If Astrology is an important part of how you see yourself (as it is to me), then this can feel like a risky proposition.  But, your natal chart will be waiting for you when you get back to it. When you return the vision of your possible self will have been enlarged. You've taken a new position from which to observe yourself, from which to measure your life.   This is  information, the primary commodity of these times.

Another benefit to giving up the natal chart is that it helps you let go of a sense of isolation. Identifying with the natal chart can keep you from encountering aspects of yourself beyond your comprehension of the symbols. Freed of identification with one moment in time, you can expand and discover yourself unbound by time or space. The psychological freedom can be disorienting, we like landmarks, but it is also a step towards liberation. Vive Uranus.

The second exercise is to eliminate a single planet from your chart. The reason you might do this is to deal with a limiting belief or blockage in relation to the planet's energy. For example, if your Mars is retrograde in Cancer and opposite Saturn you might feel that accessing initiative and anger are difficult for you. Remove Mars, imagine that it doesn't exist in your chart. (Of course, you might prefer to remove Saturn, but that's another story.) Just erase Mars from your chart, then search for initiative elsewhere. Where is the initiative in your Moon, your Sun, your Jupiter, even your Venus? Every planet holds a piece of the whole. Even a marsless person has the capacity to get the ball rolling. Removing Mars creates space for the other symbols (energies) to show you more of their initiative. You can discover other layers in each planet by doing this. Take out the Moon and look for nurturance in the other planets. Can Saturn care?  Does Mars cry? Drop Neptune and seek inspiration and compassion elsewhere. In this fashion you deepen your understanding of the planets, and of yourself.

The essential point is to play with Astrology, to use it as an instrument for exploration, rather than a frame of self-preservation. In breaking its rules you discover other rules, other levels of meaning that will enrich your life. The universe is vast, and the moment of birth, as powerful as it appears to be, is not the only way to grow with Astrology.